Yet, I Followed
by gypsysoul17
Summary: Edward knows that he can't stay away from Bella, but he still doesn't want to interfere with her life. Will watching her have the "normal human" experiences be enough to satisfy him forever or will the urge to be with her prove too strong? Rating for late
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: My story takes place after Edward leaves in New Moon. Other than the characters being the same, it won't follow the books. Please feel free to review. I would love to know what y'all think. Oh and I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. Now enjoy!**

I am a wretched and vile creature. Worse than that, I am a selfish creature. I selfishly stayed when I should have left and then left when I should have stayed. I created this mess and then I left her to clean it up… Alone.

In my head there were a thousand noble reasons why I did what I did. She deserved to have a normal life. She deserved the types of human experiences that I could never give her. Most of all she deserved a life free of the dangers that my very presence brought to her.

So, I ran; vowing to myself that I would never again interfere with her life. I would leave no traces of myself behind. She would move on and I would spend the rest of my lowly existence not having her.

That WAS the plan…

Unfortunately for my plan, she is the sun to my moon. While the sun can shine brightly on its own, the moon would hold no light were it not for the sun. She warmed my world and gave light to the eternal darkness that I had sentenced myself to. So, like the pathetic waste that I was I gravitated back towards my perpetual sun.

Like I said, I am a selfish creature.

Which is why 6 months after my hasty departure, I found myself back in the small town of Forks, staring from the shadows at a familiar second story window. This time would be different however. I would only observe my angel of light, never interfere.

I would simply watch from the shadows as she lived her life, she would still never know that I was there. I needed to see her happy, to see her move on, and to protect her if she should ever need it. This was my Bella after all and she attracted danger like sugar attracted ants. I thought this observing from the sidelines would fulfill my unquenchable thirst for her, for her scent, her skin, her smiles, and her light.

So I watched.

I watched a zombie that claimed to be my angel pass through day to day; never smiling, her skin ashen; the light gone from her beautiful chocolate eyes.

Slowly I watched as she smiled more, although I was willing to bet it was more for the sake of those around her than her actually wanting to smile.

I watched as she spent more and more time in La Push with Jacob Black. These times were the hardest for me as I couldn't step foot onto the reservation and Bella always came home with her beautiful perfume dulled by the scent of wet dog.

I watched as Jacob tried to kiss her, the thoughts in his head sending me into a murderous rage.

I listened too.

At first I listened mostly to Charlie. The thoughts in his head ranging from concern over his frail emotionally unstable daughter to the various forms of torture he wished to inflict upon me.

His thoughts were the most difficult for me to hear. To see through his eyes what I had done, the exact opposite of what I had intended to do.

I listened as Jacob confessed his love to her, and I held my figurative breath as she prepared her answer. I wanted a normal life for her and Jacob's life was just as abnormal as mine. At least that is what I blamed the gut wrenching feeling on. These months of watching taught me to rationalize my feelings quite well.

I listened as she told him, she loved him, but it could never be more than what it was now. She couldn't, she wasn't ready.

I smashed a boulder into a million tiny pieces that night and uprooted several tall pines. I had ruined her.

I am a wretched creature.

I watched from a packed auditorium as she graduated from Forks High and I watched as she packed her things to leave for college.

The University of Washington in Seattle, along with Angela, Ben, Mike, and Jessica. This was the normal life I had wanted for her.

Yet, I followed.

I told myself that my following was for her benefit. Seattle was dangerous. A particular favorite "vacation" spot for my kind. There was also one large complication; my family was there.

Carlisle had accepted a position teaching classes at the University's Medical School and he along with the others lived in a large secluded house outside of Seattle.

So, I had to go. I had to make sure she was safe, and that my family (mainly Alice) stayed away from her. She was to have no reminders to me.

That WAS the plan.

I really am a selfish creature…


	2. Chapter 2

My silver Volvo crawled closer to the Seattle city limits. Normally I would be in a hurry, driving like a "maniac" or so I have been told. Today however, there was no great hurry.

I was two hours ahead of Bella and her caravan and I had already been to check out her apartment earlier that day.

It wasn't what I would have picked out for her; not enough locks on the doors, bars on the windows, and way too many sharp counter top edges for her to fall into, but I guess it was normal. Normal, a word I repeated to myself often. I wanted her to be normal and normal meant letting her live in her first substandard college student apartment. Besides I wasn't interfering.

No, I wasn't in a hurry. The only thing that waited for me on the other side of that city limit was the endless questions and sad looks I was sure to get from my family. It had been a while. I had purposely avoided them. I grew tired of their looks, their whispers, and Alice's constant stream of thoughts about Bella and what she thought I was doing wrong. No, there was no reason to hurry. In fact I could turn around and check on Bella on more time…

The dull vibrating of my phone pulled me out of my thoughts.

Alice's name flashed on the screen and for a second I considered not answering, then again, I knew she wouldn't have called unless she knew I would answer. That's the annoying thing about having a psychic in the family, they always knew…

"Edward!" her voice chirped automatically putting me on guard

"What!?" I barked

"Do NOT turn back around, the clouds are fixing to break and you need to get to some cover soon." God had her voice always been this annoying

"Ugh" I groaned

"Just come to the house, please we all want to see you! Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaassssse!" She sang into the phone

"Fine, just please keep your thoughts to yourself and ask the others to do the same once I get there"

"Yay, I knew you would!" I could literally hear Alice bouncing

"Ha, yeah" I laughed as I slapped the phone shut

I sped up to my usual pace not because I was anxious to get to the Spanish Inquisition that I was sure to receive when I got home, but because my windows weren't quite as tinted as I would like them to be and if those clouds parted I might become a massive traffic hazard.

I could see it now, "Sparkly Man Causes Massive Traffic Jam on the 110" Heh, yeah I should hurry.

I pulled into the tree lined drive that leads to my family's massive new home, which is strangely a near replica of our home in Forks.

I feel a pang in the space where my heart should be as I remember the day I had brought her there. When I had let her fully into my world. She had trusted me then, with her life and her heart.

God how I had betrayed her!

At that second I had decided that I couldn't handle this. It was too much. I threw my car in reverse ready to escape before anyone could see me, when…

Crack!

My car smacked into what I thought was a boulder. I cussed under my breath and pulled forward to inspect the damage but my car wouldn't budge. It was then that I heard the big booming laugh.

"Emmett I'm going to kill you" I snarled as I flew around to the back of my car

"You owe me a bumper!"

Emmett just laughs and knocks my bumper back into place as something knocks me to the ground.

"Damn brother! You're losing your edge" Jasper laughs as he pulls me up from the dirt

"I'm sorry I was distracted by the fact the Emmett just demolished my car!!!" I growl at them both

"Drama queen" Emmett challenges me

"We were just trying to stop you from leaving, we figured we'd have to disable you for a bit" Jasper drawls trying to calm the tension in the air

It was then that I heard Alice coming. I heard her thoughts screaming in my head before I saw her.

"Edward! It's about time you got here." She bounded to me and lightly kissed my cheek

"Alice could you PLEASE keep those thoughts to yourself!" I scream at her alerting the rest of my family who slowly came out of the house.

"Oh, Edward relax! I've already seen it. You know it's going to happen. Seattle isn't that big!"

"NO!!!!" I growled "You WILL stay away from her Alice!"

"I can't help it if we accidently run into each other, even you can't stop that"

"YES I CAN!!!!! She will have a normal life, without reminders of us!" Anger welled up inside of me to the point that I was literally seeing red, I was about to snap. This wouldn't be good

"Normal!?" Emmett snickered

"You call being stalked by a love sick vampire a normal life!?"

I snapped

I threw myself at Emmett with such force that we both went flying through a large tree in the front yard. The tree snapped quickly and fell with a thud, clipping the side of Esme's wide porch as it went.

Emmett laughed as I snarled at him, aiming for his throat.

"Edward, stop this!" I looked up into Carlise's kind eyes and shoved Emmett back into the dirt

"You two clean this up, now!" Esme ordered Emmett and Jasper who begrudgingly began to remove the tree off of the porch.

"Let's go inside son" Carlise led me in with a firm grip on my arm

The house took my breath away. Everything was the same. My piano, my room, the large glass wall; it was all the same and yet it was different. Painful memories flooded back again. My eyes panicked and searched for an escape. I needed to get out of there and back to my life. Well what had become of my life anyways. My life, the true one, had ceased to exist the day she ceased to be a part of my life.

"Please stay" came a small plea from Esme

"We miss you, even Rose" Emmett echoed her sentiments

" I…I…" I choked up. If a vampire could cry, I just might have. This was too much. My life or lack there of was beginning to take their toll on me.

"Ugh" I groaned and sank on the couch.

Alice and Esme were gleefully by my side in a split second

Alice chattering excitedly about my return and the new car she wanted to buy me.

Esme looking kindly at me and stoking my hair like a concerned mother would do to her sick son.

Maybe I was sick.

We sat there until long after the sun had sank below the horizon. Not caring or needing to move.

When I noticed the time I began to get anxious and Alice noticed the shift in my mood.

"Edward…" she began cautiously

I knew what she was thinking; it was the same thing they were all thinking.

I was a miserable wreck without her but it had to be this way. There was no other option.

"There is another way" Alice spoke softly and I jerked back feeling as If she had read my thoughts

"I can't" I sighed defeated

"Even if I could go back, she'd never trust me again and I could never live with that"

Alice looked at me closely her dark eyes clouded and her thoughts purposely muddled by pictures of new shoes

"Okay…"she gave in although I knew it was too easy.

I silently nodded and walked into the cool damp night towards what was left of my life


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: This one is going to be a little short, but I wanted to add a little bit of Bella in. I kind of just figured out where I was going with this story so I'm pretty excited and will hopefully be updating again soon. Anyways, thanks for my first review! If there is anything you'd like to see added into the story, let me know I'll see what I can do!**

**Bella's POV**

I watched Charlie pull away from my new home, the last of my stuff moved into my very own apartment.

I was alone. Usually I would relish this feeling, but tonight alone felt too lonely. There was a damp chill in the air. It was colder than it should have been for an August night. I wrapped my too big sweater around me and went to look out the double window in my living room. This would take some getting used to. Everything being mine, my own bathroom, my own kitchen, my own view of…

of the old building across the street. Well I guess beggars can't be choosers. If I hadn't waited so long to apply to college I might have been able to get into student housing or at least into an apartment with a view of a park or a tree or even a patch of grass.

As it is I'm stuck looking down at the blackened windows and falling apart sign of an old abandoned movie theatre. The top of the theatre was even with my third story apartment. Peering across the black misty night I swear I could make out the shape of a figure watching me in the night.

The thought of this should have made me shiver or at least close the blinds, but it was a feeling I had grown accustomed too. It was a feeling I had felt every night in Forks; like I was being guarded by a silent protector.

I knew however, this feeling was a product of my over active imagination; my wishful thinking.

My silent protector was no longer there. He didn't want me…


	4. Chapter 4

I sat on top of an old air-conditioning vent on top of the old theatre across from her apartment building. The night was dark and wet enough that nobody would be able to see me here. It was the perfect view. I could see into her apartment's living room.

I could see the large overstuffed green chair that her tiny frail body was curled up in now. I could see her shiver and wrap herself deeper into the blanket that covered her. To the casual observer she seemed very engrossed in her very tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice. I, however, was not the casual observer.

I could see the way she nervously chewed her lip and the way her eyes never actually scanned the page before her. Instead her eyes seemed far off, like she was in another world. Perhaps she was in another time. A time when everything was better.

Upon further inspection I noticed a small trail of tears glistening down her cheek. My poor angel was crying. It took every ounce of self control that I had not to burst through her window, wrap her in my arms, and tell her everything would be ok. Whatever it is, it was all going to be ok. I was there and I still loved her…

A car backfire down the street brought me back to the world I actually lived in. A cold and wet world in which I stood on the sidelines and watched her cry her sad normal tears.

Normal…this is what I wanted. Normal people cried the first night they spent alone in a new place. Right!? I wasn't sure, I had never actually been normal.

The car backfire must have startled her as well because she slowly moved towards the window and after one last long look she closed the blinds and turned out the lights.

I sat still for what must have been hours, debating on what I would do next. I couldn't go home, not that I really had a home anymore.

My home was here, guarding the girl I loved; watching over her on this dark lonely night. This abnormally cold night.

I should go but I've never really done what I should do.

I hadn't set foot inside Bella's room since I left her in the woods that horrible night that seemed so long ago. At least not while she was there. Sometimes when I was really lonely I would climb in while she was away. I told myself I was just checking the house to make sure it was safe, but I really just wanted to be surrounded by her sweet floral perfume.

I longed to smell that scent again. The see the flush of her skin and hear her heart beating steadily as she slept.

It was then that I decided that maybe on little peek wouldn't hurt. She would be long asleep by now and I would leave before she awoke. I should leave. I should go hunt or run far away from here.

I should go, and yet I followed…

I followed the lure of that sweet forbidden smell up to the third story window of her apartment and in a move quicker than any human could see I slid the window open (Why didn't she lock this!? I'd have to steal a key to the front door for future spying) and let myself inside her world again.

There were boxes everywhere, a small tan sofa, and that large chair. Everything seemed mismatched and yet perfectly complimentary. Like my love's beautiful lips. The bottom much too full for the top and yet the complimented her face and her kiss in the most perfect way.

A small trail had been made in-between the boxes through the cramped tiny apartment. I could see her sleepily stumbling over them in the morning and quietly laughed to myself at the memory of her clumsiness. I turned the corner from the living room into a small hallway. The door at the end of the hallway slightly ajar, leading me into the depths of my own private hell.

Like a druggie desperate for a hit I stepped through that door way. Breathing deeply in the smell of her, my own private drug.

There she was. This was the closest I had been to her since the night I left. She was wrapped in the same small blanket from earlier her legs twisted in the sheets, her long brown twisted in her face.

There was no place to sit, so I settled on a box about a foot from the side of her bed. I sat unmoving staring at her small motionless figure; wrapping myself in her scent and soaking up her warmth.

She breathed quietly and then suddenly mumbled something that even my acute senses could not understand.

She tossed away from me and then mumbling again turned back. Suddenly a cry escaped her lips and she gasped my name in such a way that I almost abandoned my box believing myself caught.

"Edward!" she cried again her eyes remaining closed

"I love you! Don't leave me like this!" More desperate cries from those beautiful lips

"You promised" she whispered again and again before fading into a deeper and less fitful sleep.

It was then that I noticed the tears flowing slowly down her cheeks.

I was overcome by the urge to reach out and touch her; to gather those tears up and take them far away from her, from her beautiful face.

I silently cursed myself for being the reason for those tears. Had she cried like this every night since I left? Was this just a onetime thing? Maybe she subconsciously recognized the fact that I was here and she wanted me to pay for the pain I had caused her.

I had never wanted to read her mind more than I at that moment.

One single tear remained on her delicate cheek. Glistening like a crystal in the moonlight.

I slowly reached my hand towards the bed closing the space between us and swiftly but gently caught the tear with my finger. My god she was warm and the tear burned a trail down my hand as I slowly let it fall to the floor.

My head was spinning and if I had a heart it was breaking again.

She sighed my name and I slowly slid off of my box towards her again. Bringing my head level with her and just inches away.

The heat and smell radiating off of her were dizzying. I shouldn't be here I thought to myself but since I was I might as well go through with this. I may never get another chance. After tonight I may never allow myself to get this close again.

Slowly, softly, carefully, I brushed my lips gently across her forehead. Her skin was like fire on my lips. The feeling of it burned into my brain; right through to my immortal soul. Which at the moment was both soaring and dying.

"Stay"

The words came breathlessly from her lips. As soft as a whisper and yet the shook me to my very core. I staggered back and flew out of her apartment as if I had been shot.

I ran through the cold night never once feeling the fire fade from my skin...


	5. Chapter 5

I burst through the door to my family's home desperate to escape to the peace and solitude of my room. Unfortunately I found Jasper and Emmett engrossed in their never ending game of chess with Rosalie thumbing through her latest fashion magazine, her head in Emmett's lap. I attempted to sneak past them, hoping the look on my face would be enough to keep their questions at bay.

'_My my it smells like somebody has been naughty' _

I could hear Rosalie's thoughts taunting me as I turned to go up the stairs.

"Rose…don't…not tonight" I quietly pleaded with her

"Yeah Rose, leave the kid…My God what is that smell!!??" Emmett's voice boomed brining unwanted attention to myself

"Ha…it smells like SOMEBODY has been cavorting with a H-U-M-A-N" Rosalie purred as she circled around me

"Anyone we know, bro? Emmett trying to pull Rosalie into his lap as he spoke

My answer was interrupted by Alice's high pitched squeal

"Oh my god!!!!!! Is Bellaaaaaaa…." Her voice trailing off as she entered the room to find me alone

'_That's odd, I could have sworn I smelled Bella down here…in fact I still do…Oh god Edward, you weren't…'_

Alice silently questioned as I looked down in shame

"I….I….uh…uh…well" I stammered as Rosalie's laughter pierced the room

"Oh my god, how much more pathetic can you get!?"

"Rose…"Emmett once again warned her…no doubt remembering my earlier display of rage

"No, I'm tired of having to walk on eggs shells because Edward 'isn't doing well'. He made his choice! HE LEFT HER" She exaggerated her last words, making sure that they stung

"You wouldn't understand" I growled eye blackening as I slowly moved towards her

"What is there to understand? YOU LEFT and now you're sneaking into her room watching her like some sad sick pervert. Don't try and deny it! Why else would you come home reeking of her!"

"Maybe you're just too self centered to see things from my point of view Rose. What if the situation was reversed? What if this was you and Emmett was the human asleep in that room!? What then!!??"

The anger in my voice shaking the walls. I wasn't sure how much more I could take. I was seconds away from sending her body flying through the glass wall that made up the back of our house.

"That would never happen!" Rosalie asserted a cruel smile playing at her lips as she moved slowly behind Emmett, no doubt anticipating my attack.

"If it were me, I would have changed him when I had the chance and even if I hadn't I…would…have…NEVER…left!!! You see Edward, this is how we are different. I may be as vain and self-absorbed as you claim, but I would die before I gave up the one thing that I truly loved"

Her last words cut through me like a thousand daggers ripping apart my soul. I crumpled to the floor watching helplessly as she flicked her long hair over her shoulder and sauntered out of the room with Emmett following dutifully behind her.

In an instant Alice and Jasper were at my sides, trying to lift me up from the giant heap I had become on the floor.

'_That was a low blow'_

'_She didn't mean it, you know how she feels about the Bella situation'_

'_She's just jealous that you never fell to pieces over her'_

Unfortunately no matter how hard they tried, their thoughts would be of no comfort to me tonight…I'm not sure anything would ever comfort me again. I was a broken man and the only thing that would ever piece me back together was the one thing I could never have again.

"Edward…" Alice prodded gently

'_Please get up…you can't live this way. Seeing you this way is killing us all. Please consider it Edward…Please…you aren't the only one who misses her…'_

I looked up in Alice's small pleading eyes. A small crease forming into her brow. Sorrow and anguish apparent on her elfish face.

"Alice, what would you do? Even if I wanted to she probably wouldn't let me back in. I've hurt her too much. The wounds are too deep" I whispered

Suddenly I was blinded by flashes in Alice's mind

Bella laying in a heap in the middle of her bed, clutching her pillow. Loud sobs quaking from within her. My name evident in between the heaving cries.

Then a page filled with Bella's cramped hand writing.

'When he left he took a part of my soul and all of my heart. Those are pieces of myself that I will never see again. Nobody will ever get to me the way he has. I will love him and only him, forever…'

Another page

'You promised. You said you would never leave. I should have known I could never keep you here. I was too plain, too boring, and too ordinary. I knew you would eventually grow tired of being my knight in shining armor. You we're too extraordinary, too perfect. Now I am doomed to spend the rest of my days haunted by the memory of you. The only love I will ever know. The only thing that will ever matter to me. Life holds no more joy for me now that you are gone. Sometimes I think that there is nothing left to live for, nothing to look forward to. You asked me to take care of myself for Charlie and because you asked, I will do just that , but nothing more. I am only still here because he needs me and because a small part of me still holds out hope. As pointless of a hope as it may be, it keeps me going. It keeps me alive even though every part of me is missing every part of you; as it will be forever.

I stared at Alice for a long time. I wanted to be angry with her but at the moment the only emotion I could conjure was shock; pure shock.

"You aren't the only one who checks in on her either"

"You read her diary!? Alice how could you!?" I'm sure I would be crying if the monster that I was could cry. Tears would be a relief from the pain and anguish that my body held in. However, tears were a relief that I did not deserve At this moment the only thing I deserved was death and I wished for it with everything that I had.

"You needed to see what a mistake you were making. I wanted you to realize that she was never going to move on like you wanted her to. You are her only love and always will be" Alice's voice was soft but stern.

"You don't know that!" My voice sharper than I had intended it to be

"Humans are fickle. They aren't like us, their minds change daily. She could meet someone tomorrow who could make her forget that I ever existed…" even as I spoke the words I prayed silently to myself that they would never come true.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: I'm really not sure if anyone is even reading this, but I guess I'll keep writing. Reviews would be helpful if you are reading it. Just so I know that all of my work isn't in vain…lol…oh and in case you forgot I don't own anything…seriously if I owned Edward I'd be waaaaaaay too busy to write! **

BPOV

The slow and steady beeping of my alarm shakes me from my deep sleep. It's always these first morning moments that I hate the most. They steal the night from me and with it the only time I will ever have with him; those times in my dreams that still seem so real. Sometimes they're so real that I can feel him next to me. I can feel his fingers, hard and cool, brushing down my cheeks. I can still smell his sweet breath as his lips swiftly yet gently brush across my forehead. The same way they did every night after he thought I was asleep. I would give anything to have those nights back; to wake up next to him just one last time; to have one last chance to stare into those deep golden eyes and live in the absolutely perfect bliss that he brought into my life. These are just the silly dreams of a silly girl though. He has long since forgotten about me and I must go on because he asked me to. Besides today is my first day of college…

"Oh God" I groan as I pull myself from the warm cocoon that my blankets have made on my bed

The first day of anything is always the worst. My mind drifts back to my first day at Forks High…the first day that I saw him…

I force myself back into reality; promising myself that this first day will be different. It's college after all. I'm definitely not the only new girl and there definitely won't be any gorgeous brooding vampires who have a near uncontrollable thirst for my blood sitting next to me in biology. No today would be plain, simple, and dull…like every day of the rest of my life would be.

At least my classes would be interesting. Spanish, Statistics (okay, so that wouldn't be interesting), World History, and since I had tested out of freshman English, an entire class dedicated to the works of Jane Austen. Maybe college wouldn't be so bad after all. I had decided to double major in English and History. Mainly because I thought two majors would keep me busy and the busier I was the less time I would have to dwell on him. Although, if I was being completely honest, I decided on history because I was desperate for things that would remind me he was real. Maybe learning about the time periods he and his family had lived through would help me keep his memory alive. Maybe it would keep him from being that shadow of a dream that he threatened to become. Maybe, although I doubted they had a class on the 'history of your vampire ex-boyfriend'. This was college though and you really never know…

I had to hurry and get ready or I'd be late for statistics. I threw on some jeans, a plain blue t-shirt, and headed into the living room to grab my books. It was then that I noticed that my living room window was slightly open, the blinds pulled up.

_Odd I don't remember ever opening it and I closed the blinds before I went to bed. At least I thought I did…God Bella you really are losing it._

I slammed the window shut, locking it, and closed the blinds. Then I practically ran out of my apartment. I didn't want to be late on my first day.

My day passed slowly. I had statistics and Spanish with Angela, Jessica, and Mike. It was already beginning to feel like high school all over again. Angela still sweet and soft spoken as ever, Mike was still loud and obnoxious, and Jessica still followed him like a small lost puppy. She even had those dopey puppy eyes when she looked at him. I was beginning to feel as if I had never left Forks…

I walked into my last class, World history, secretly happy to be away from everybody for once. I needed to be alone for a while; away from their unintentional reminders of my past. This classroom was different than the others. Instead of individual desks it was crammed with several rows of long tables. I chose a seat on the very end in the very back of the room; hoping to avoid contact with the other people that slowly filed into the room. I was silently celebrating the successful completion of my mission to hermit myself in the back when a deep melodic voice broke my concentration.

"Is this seat taken?" asked the almost familiar voice

_Bella just breathe, calm down. The voice is too deep, it's not right…you know it isn't him. Damnit just look up and see that it isn't him!_

"N..n..no" I stammered out as I slowly raised my head up and examined a nearly familiar chin and a pair of lips that we're just slightly off. My eyes shot up to inspect a head hair that was both too short and too brown and yet infused with a subtle copper color that I knew all too well. I took in an entire face that was almost complete in it's perfection and yet its features were all just slightly askew. It was if someone had taken the face from my dreams and moved everything just a fraction of an inch off. Not enough to make me forget him and yet just enough to make me realize that this definitely was not him. Finally my eyes settled on a pair of shocking emerald green eyes.

"Hi, I'm Anthony" the eyes smiled at me, dancing as he spoke. No sign of darkness or brooding in them.

"Bella" I managed to choke out still having to remind myself to breathe. This had to be some sort of cruel evil joke; a horrid reminder. Perhaps Victoria was behind this. Maybe she figures she can kill me with a simple heart attack, thus satisfying her need for vengeance. I wanted to run quickly out of this class room and immediately drop the class and yet as I looked into those smiling green eyes, the strangest thing happened.

My heart, the one I would have sworn was dead, suddenly thudded to life…


End file.
